House Projects

Since the first of January I have been on "Home self Makeover" mode.
So this had lead me to becoming a somewhat homebody. Which is fine since the snow, smog, and sick kids also forced me to stay home.

 (Hailey taking her 9th absent for this term due to being sick)
But here's a few finished projects I've been working on....

I've seen all over Pinterest those bookshelves turned on their side to make a bench. I loved that idea however when I tried to do this the shelves were way to high for my girls. It makes me wonder how the kids in the Pinterest photos get on top of their benches.
Anyways when Mike had his 1 day off in 2 weeks he helped me by making this bench. He used Mason's bookshelf that he received for Christmas along with some scrap wood pieces from our garage and made this absolutely wonderful storage bench for our girls.
 
 After painting it this peachy pink paint that I got from Lowe's for free it looks amazing.I can't even see that the wood doesn't match. So besides the little wicker bookshelf each colored bin is assigned for something. Blue- Cati's clothes. Purple- shoes/ underclothes, Light Pink- toys, Dark Pink-Lily's clothes. I admit it was hard getting everything down to 2 bins. We all had to make some hard scarifies (instead of 6 barbies they only have 2 now) but it's so worth it.

Next was keeping Christ in our home. I admit that there's times where this momma needs a time out herself. So to help me cut back at my yelling I ordered tons of prints of these Jesus photos. The photo of Mary holding baby Jesus is hanging on the girls bedroom door. And what better word than, "Love" to remind me to show love not frustration towards them. And the "Teach" photo of Joseph teaching Jesus to read is on Mason's door. It helps remind me that even Jesus needed to be taught so for me to not get frustrated when I have to teach Mason....whatever it may be for the day.

 And in the girls room over their bench I have 4 more Jesus pictures that I can see right when I open their door. A great little reminder to love my children as much as Christ does.

 But here's the girls new bunk beds that I wanted for MY birthday. It was such a great price (Target  org. $199 for only $90 with my red card plus free shipping) Lily and Ducati love their new beds! I mean LOVE!!!!

 Lily helped with the decorating of her walls. Between her and Cati they torn down some letters I had on their wall and instead she hung this newspaper ad up. Yes it says,"Contraception Opt-Out Offer", and, " LA Church leaders knew of abuse". Mike and I giggled when we seen this. But Lily says she likes this page because of the beautiful rings. So I'm on the hunt to find some purple rings so she can take down this ad. :-)

All I need to do now is paint the girls room again. This time we found the most amazing washable paint that's $35 for a can of it. So worth it to not have pen marks everywhere. So when I save enough to get 2 cans this room will be looking AMAZING!

Next was Mason's room. Nothing major had to be done. But he did need some bigger furniture. A friend of mine both giggled because she just had to get her son bigger furniture too. It's weird since I never thought about it. The bigger Mason gets the bigger his stuff needs to get.

 So we put the bookshelf that was in our living room in his room along with the dresser that was in our girls room is now in his room. He likes it so much more. Now all his shirts don't have to be smashed into a small bin.

 Oh and another new development with Mason. Being autistic can bring challenges that I never thought to teach. Like time management  Previously he had a list of things he needed to do everyday which was helpful but that lead to me 99% of the time having to remind him. Which I disliked since it's enabling him. So another friend of mine has a family schedule in her house that I've admired. So I took her idea and add that principle to Mason. He now has a schedule that breaks down the day for him in 15 minute time frames. Starts at 7am all the way until 8:30pm. And so far he's loving it. And I'm loving it since I don't have to remind him on thing he needs to do.

Now with my room. My room is a complete mess. At least I'm being honest. Between cleaning ,organizing, and daily tasks this room has be the longest project EVER!! But here's where I am.

Have you ever seen that movie, "How do you know?" with Reese Witherspoon.  There's a part where she goes into her bathroom to brush her teeth and reads all these affirmations. I felt so inspired when she did this that I did that to my mirror.

photo source
My bedroom mirror is now my "Time to Reflect". There's times when I wake up and our kids are already fighting. Or there's times when I'm in a funk and can't remember why I'm suppose to smile. But with words of affirmation- I love them! We have quotes all over our house so why not add them to our mirrors. Small and simple things can cause great changes. And this is one of them.

Last my closet. This is my prize joy. It took me a full day to go through this place. I wish I had a before photo but then again I don't. I would be too embarrassed to show how it looked.

Our poorly abused walk-in closet was home for clothes, gifts, wrapping paper, sewing stuff, toys, purses,  etc. But now .....

Everything that wasn't clothes was kicked out and everything that stood now has a place. Seasonal items are boxes up and put up top. Shoes are organized.  Belts are hung so nicely on our "(last name)" belt hook holder. And I even color coordinated our clothes. Alittle OCD but so pretty. All I have to do is sand and paint the dresser that I got from DI for $5 and I'll be able to sit in my closet and feel inner peace :-)

 I've enjoyed working on our home. It's the most amazing feeling when I was able to take down all the baby proofing stuff. No more locks on the cabinets. No more electric plug covers. Everything is all gone. It's so wonderful ♥  Some people might say I'll miss it but for Mike and I...haha- NOPE!